The present invention relates to snips; more particularly, the present invention relates to compound action snips.
Snips for cutting a variety of materials such as wood, branches or sheetmetal are well known. Similarily, snips having a compound action are well known where it is necessary to provide additional force at the point of cutting.
While snips are common in most tool boxes they often provide a rough cut which leaves a jagged edge on the surfaces where the workpiece has been cut. A full understanding of the reasons for such a rough cut or jagged edge remains unknown; however it is believed that the compression of the material being cut as the blades come together in what might best be termed a traveling or collapsing "V" causes the workpiece to be partially torn apart rather than cleanly sheared. Additionally, the line of cut is also difficult to see because the blade is in the way.
The rough cut or jagged edge on a workpiece can be minimized if a clean shear is provided; however, such clean shears normally require the use of a powered shearing machine using hardened and sharpened blades. Such powered shearing machines are not portable and cannot be easily used by workmen who may be fitting moulding or firring strips at a construction site. There is therefore a need in the art to provide snips whose results approximate those of a powered shearing machine; specifically smooth or non-jagged edges where the workpiece has been severed.
While some snips in the prior art have attempted to solve this problem by moving one blade into another in an approximately parallel or linear fashion; the geometry of single pivot snips necessitates that the cut be a traveling or collapsing "V". Such cuts typically are characterized by rough or jagged edges.